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New York Yankees' Injured Starter Could Be Valuable Trade Piece For Surprising Reason

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Marcus Stroman drew a a lot of interest in the offseason, but he could be more likely to be traded this summer despite his current injury. Why is that? We explain here.

Brady Farkas

New York Yankees starting pitcher Marcus Stroman (0) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park on April 5.
New York Yankees starting pitcher Marcus Stroman (0) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park on April 5. / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
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Currently on the injured list with a knee issue, New York Yankees' starting pitcher Marcus Stroman has struggled in 2025. Making just three starts, Stroman is 0-1 with an 11.57 ERA. He's only tossed 9.1 innings.

However, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, Stroman could be a hot trade candidate this summer even despite his injury and his ineffectiveness.

Yankees starter Marcus Stroman’s trade value is actually increasing by being on the injured list. Now that he’s sidelined, he won’t be able to automatically exercise his player option since he’ll fall short of 140 innings.

If Stroman were to hit 140 innings, he'd automatically have an $18 million option for next season. Nightengale says that option is the main reason why teams didn't end up trading for him over the offseason. However, the longer he's sidelined, the less attainable that becomes, and the more a team doesn't have to worry about a future commitment.

The Yankees enter play on Sunday in first place in the American League East, and there's a chance that they could be interested in keeping Stroman to help in the rotation as well. They are currently using Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Will Warren and Clarke Schmidt, but the No. 5 spot is in flux because of long-term injuries to Gerrit Cole and Luis Gil.

An 11-year veteran, Stroman is 87-86 lifetime with a 3.77 ERA. Stroman is the former ace of the Toronto Blue Jays but has also pitched for the Mets and Chicago Cubs. He made the All-Star Game with Toronto in 2019 and Chicago in 2023.

Stroman made his debut with Toronto in 2014 and won double-digit games in two separate seasons with the Jays. He helped Toronto to the ALCS in both the 2015 and 2016 seasons. He went 10-9 for the Yankees last season, but did not see any action in the postseason as the Yankees advanced to the World Series.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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